Don't be afraid
by pani-leukonoe
Summary: Nothing happens without the reason, no event disappears without a trace, and the lines of fate sometimes create intricate patterns on the fabric of life. Muguruma Kensei, the policeman, gets assigned to watch young journalist, Hisagi Shuuhei, who happened to find himself to close to wrong people. Two men eventually cross paths. What will happen when they finally face each other?/AU


**Hi! Welcome everyone. First things first: story was inspired by "Growing on me" from Rincewind2.0 and "Compression" from sardonicis imperfecta. Rating will go up with further chapters. I have all story already written in polish but it will take time for my friend to translate, but she goes on comments (me too) so if you like what you read, please leave some kind words :)**

 **Bon appetit~!**

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Kensei spat out his toothpick and ran his hand over short grey hair. There he was again – in front of the bar "Nihilism". Why did he always come inside if he could as well stay outside and wait for the watched boy to leave? Especially that he knew nothing interesting was happening in there. Well, he must've really liked this place by now. He stole one quick look at the green fluorescent inscription on the black background, covering previous one, and then he entered.

With almost no windows, heavily smoky air and dim lights, the bar offered rather sleepy mood. Black tables separated with screens provided intimacy and melancholy music did its best to make brooding comfortable. If suiciders would have to choose their meeting place, "Nihilism" was the obvious choice.

A rather unexpected change compared to the previous bar's design. No wonder – "Hypnosis" was about to draw as many youngsters as possible so the drug handel could flourish. Especially one of them was important for the game – Hongyouku also called "Dream Come True". Kensei saw tha tape from questioning one of Hongyouku addicts, young orange-haired boy and got cold shivers everytime he thought about it. The boy was maybe sixteen and he wasn't able to tell drug visions from reality but in this particular case Kensei couldn't blame him, because Hongyouku made the boy feel powerful, almost indestructible. Luckily the red-head was now on detox and should eventually be alright, but for how long? There were tons of this shit on black market.

The key figure behind production and distribution of Hongyouku was Aizen Sousuke, only till recently regarded as some kind of statesman by the citizens. Kensei's jaws instinctively clenched when he thought about all this mess. If it wasn't for that, he wouldn't have to be glued to "his" kis, who happenend to find himself too close to wrong people.

Kensei didn't look around like the first time he visited the bar. After a month he recognized most of the frequenters quite well, and they probably already knew him too. He approached the bar and sat at his favourite place in the shadow of the corner. The bartender and at the same time the owner of the bar – pale, blackhaired young man with dark circles under his eyes and the look of potential suicidal – placed the beer in front of him. He was silent, as always.

"Thanks, Ulquiorra" murmured Kensei and the only answer he got was a shrug.

He took a sip of the alcohol and checked his watch. His kid has yet fifteen minutes to show up. He always came at the same hour, in the same days. His time schedule was nicely arranged which Kensei was now well aware of. He had time to get used to it since the assignment.

The kid was always coming first. Then, depending on the day, one, two or three more persons appeared. All of them had "tails", just like Kensei, trailing them. On day, he even ran into Shinji who tailed Aizen's former secretary – Hinamori Momo – guess that was her name. And the other day he was sure he saw Rose who was assigned to keep an eye on Kira Izuru, Ichimaru Gin's lackey. Ichimaru was one of the those who profted directly from distributing Hongyouku and thinking about this guy made Kensei wanna to smash something. He quickly raised the bottle and drank half of it in one go, to calm himself.

Ichimaru Gin, corrupted motherfucker, who gave Aizen heads up about collected evedences and planned hunt. Thanks to that Aizen was able to escape along with his associate Kaname Tousen, ex-chief editor one of the biggest newspapers in town. Kensei's kid was one of the closest to Tousen.

Ever present smoke danced gently under breath of the wind when the door stood open. Kensei took a quick look.

"Speak of the devil..." he murmured in the bottle, taking another sip.

He smiled lightly. The boy who had just entered the bar was dressed exactly like that time when Kensei started to tail him – tight fit black jeans with silver chain attached to the loop, black tight sleeveless and couvre-chef tied on his wrist. He was carrying the guitar case – it was Tuesday so he came straight from the rehearsal of his newly formed band. On his way to the bar he took off his headphones - they were now resting on his neck – and ran his hand through black messy hair. He fit in perefectly, unlike Kensei who was wearing grey T-shirt and green combats.

Ulquiorra also noticed the frequenter – he put down his book and prepared a bottle of whisky along with the glass. Before the boy reached the bar, whisky with ice was already waiting for him. One could still hear the music coming from the boy's headphones – right now it was some classical tune.

"How's your college, Ulqu?" asked the boy. His voice was an absolute bed magnet for both women and men.

Fair skinned bartender shrugged.

"Had worse" he answered shortly, reaching for the book. It seemed he won't speak again but he asked:

"What about you, Hisagi? Any news on your case?"

Kensei allowed himself to take a look at them. His kid sighed heavily and thoughtfully rubbed his cheek with number 69 tattooed on it. He always did that when he pondered about something.

"Nothing", he whispered after a long while "It's not even about me and if I'm under suspicion or all that stuff...I just thought I knew him better. I spent all this time in job with him and never noticed anything. Anything." he finished lost in thoughts, but right after that he just waved it off. He took his drink. "Thanks, Ulqu. Go back to your book."

The bartender nodded his thanks and returned to reading.

Meanwhile, Kensei watched as Hisagi takes his usual place at the table, where he always sat and waited for his friends. He cursed his superiors richly – why did they have to give him this kid?

He finished his beer and waved at Ulquiorra with empty bottle. The bartender replaced it with full one and Kensei took a few sips before falling in brooding mood.

Why of all the available suspects did he have to get this black-haired, slim but muscled boy? And that pervy tattoo...Just as if he wanted to show the world he's free for taking. Why didn't he get this Hinamori woman? Then this assignment wouldn't be made so hard by Kensei's own desires.

He was gay. Admitting this was hard and took him some time but he couldn't lie to himself anymore. Maybe this wouldn't be so troublesome if he didn't work in the police, dammit. You can talk all you want about the tolerance and equality for sex minorities, but in reality it's all unicorns shitting rainbows. If someone found out about his preferences he could say bye-byes to his further career, at least in his home unit. Yes, it's true he noticed one gay couple among the investigators. He couldn't help but wonder – were they that good at hiding and he just "sniffed" them being the bird of the same flock? Or their superiors decided to overlook it because one of them was a member of influential Kuchiki family? Or maybe they were more lenient than Kensei's chief. Whatever the reason was, Kensei envied the couple.

His current assignment was given to him with some loco logic too. Like his superiors would think the mere fact that Kensei and Hisagi came from the same town was enough. Maybe so that they could stop and talk about "those old good times", if they were ever meant to exchange a word. What Kensei's boss didn't consider was that Hisagi moved out about 15 years ago, and their town changed. Unfortunately for worse.

The door stood open again and this time cold breeze brought with itself a sound of woman's melodious laughter.

"Oh, Kira..." murmured well-endowed blonde woman, dind't even trying to hide her charms.

"This wasn't supposed to be funny, Rangiku" said fair-haired man, walking behind her.

"Truly, you're gloomy as always" commented the woman, clearly dissapointed.

She waved her hand at him and moved to the table occupied by Hisagi. Kira walked to the bar where the beer was already waiting along with empty glass soon to be filled with a drink.

The blonde nodded his welcome to the bartender, but didn't say a word. Ulquiorra wasn't chatty either. Those two would look really great in encyclopaedia under the "emo" reference.

Kensei could understand the blonde – even if he turned out innocent, his police career would be over. Ichimaru fucked him up really good. What was Ulquiorra's problem – he didn't know and preferred not to think about it.

Only just when his drink was prepared, Kira decided to say something but then Ulquiorra fished an ashtray from under the bar, putting it in front of him and the blonde just nodded. Incredibly fascinating conversation was over.

They would make the perfect couple, these two – both lacking conversational skills, they would never argue. Wonder, if their sex would be also totally mute...

Kensei shook his head. There's something seriously wrong with you, Mr. Officer, thinking thoughts like that. He sighed heavily and fished out another toothpick box from his combats. He took one of them and put it in his mouth. Not so long ago he quitted smoking and still felt the overwhelming need to have something in his mouth. There was however, one thing he would gladly put in his mouth and it belonged to certain tattooed boy...Almost immediately he mentally smacked himself for that. Truly, there WAS something wrong with him.

For a while he entertained himself using his bottle to make circles on the table's surface. Every now and then he took quick glances at the company in the corner.

What a interesting coincidence...Among the investigated three Kira knew Hinamori before all this mess – they attended the same high school and the same class, and – if memory served him – the same goes for inspector Kuchiki's boyfriend, Abarai Renji. Hisagi was also a student there, but he was two years older than Kira and Hinamori. As far as Kensei knew, they didn't keep in contact since the school days. The blonde woman, Matsumoto Rangiku, was two years older than Hisagi and was coming back in reports as an old Ichimaru's acquaintance. Supposedly he was the one who introduced her to Kira.

All this company established regular contacts only after all this affair was slowly becoming public. At first police thought they were taking care of some bussiness for Aizen, but shortly after Kensei was assigned to his kid, he knew that wasn't the thing.

What brought them together was betrayal and those who betrayed them were people who they trusted the most. Now all of them carried a great amount of sadness in their hearts, even this joyous blonde. Kensei saw her a few times here, in "Nihilism" drinking alone, staring somewhere in the space. She was a perefect model for the popular saying "old love never dies". Still the one who experienced the greatest shock was Hinamori. She was not only Aizen's assistant, he treated her as his own daughter. When all of this happened she tried to commit suicide so Shinji had an eye on her mainly to thwart her plans if she ever wanted to do it again. These people were to valuable witnesses to let them die so easily.

Another song tuned in. He even knew that one.

 _Touched_

 _You say that I am too_

 _So much of what you say is true_

Vast vocalist sang through the speakers.

 _I'll never find someone quite like you_

 _Like you_

That line could as well be dedicated to the company in the corner. Kira stared at the bottom of his bottle. Matsumoto got up and went to the bathroom

 _I, I looked into your eyes and saw_

 _A world that does not exist_

 _I looked into your eyes and saw_

 _A world I wish I was in_

Hisagi played with the remaining ice cubes in his whisky.

 _I'll never love someone quite the way that I_

 _Loved you_

With it last accords died away and the other, more cheerful song started playing – cheerful for "Nihilism" standards obviously. Kira shook himself from his reveries and started to talk with Hisagi. Matsumoto, coming back from the toilette, stopped at the bar and perched at the stool.

"As always you play some emo whining" she complained to Ulquiorra.

He looked at her with "and what did you expect here" expression and gave her his usual answer – a shrug.

"Another one?" he asked from above his book and put it away when he got positive answer.

"Take one for me too, Rangiku" called Hisagi from the corner.

" You heard the man" she told the bartnder.

After a short while both drinks were ready. Matsumoto blew a kiss to the bartnder, took the glasses and returned to the table.

Kensei finished his beer and threw chewed toothpick inside the bottle. He was about to leave the money and take his exit but unexpectedly Ulquiorra approached him.

"I forgot" he said in his monotonous voice "Next Friday Hisagi and his band are giving concert. Feel informed."

"I'll remeber, thanks" murmured Kensei, paid for his beer and left.

Hisagi should be staying for another hour, so he could take a walk. He put hands in his pockets and went ahead. If this continues, he will get some serious blues from this job. Maybe he manages to get Shinji to accompany him on this concert. Maybe for once he won't look like a supremely lonely guy touched with midlife crisis.

The next Friday arrived unexpectedly quickly. Meanwhile Hisagi had changed his daily routine caught up in practice sessions with his band. Kensei on the other hand caught himself impatiently awaiting the event – this kid with a guitar should pose for quite sexy image. Every time a thought like that popped into his head, he engaged himself in exhausting training drill to get rid of it.

Kensei left the car and caught a whiff of cool night air with obvious relief. He had no idea what kind of substance Shinji had been spraying in his car but it always made him dizzy. He slammed the door.

"Heeey..." whined Shinji from the other side of the car "Easy now, will ya? Sakenada is a delicate girl after all" he warned and patted the bonnet lovingly "Aren't ya, sweetheart?"

Kensei shook his head. He could understand naming the car – he, himself, called his motorbike "Tachikaze" – but talking to it? Petting it? He thought it was a bit too much, but men are men, they have their kinks.

"Remind me again – why did I agree to go with you?" asked the blonde on their way to "Nihilism" "Since it's not jazz gig?"

Kensei shrugged, took out the toothpick and put it in his mouth.

"Don't ask me. It was you who said – why not?" he answered thruthfully what made Shinji sigh, seemingly over his own stupidity.

Today the bar's gonna be full. Right now there were a group of youngsters gathered in front of it. They were dressed in black but didn't look overly dark. Especially for the occasion Kensei dressed in black combats but Shinji didn't care too much for blending – he wore jeans, shirt with a tie and the cap as integral part of his outfit.

The bar was rearranged for the concert. All tables were moved so the band could set out their equipment by the wall and to make space for the improvized dancefloor. The band checked the last details.

One of the crew, blue haired boy, no older than Hisagi, was leaning against the microphone. He had this predatory smile on his face almost all of the time and his hair was heavily gelled. When Kensei saw him for the first time on his way to the band practice session, he couldn't supress the feeling he knew him from somewhere before. The bassist, currently crouching next to the amplifier, was no less interesting. Ha had white hair and looked the youngest of them all – he could be in his early twentiees. He and Hisagi, who was plugging his guitar, were now engaged in hushed conversation.

Kensei for the enth time cursed his superiors. Do this kid has to be so friggin' hot? Really? Today, as usual, he was wearing black jeans, deeply cut on his knee and white shirt with rolled sleeves. It was only partially buttoned and to some extent showed Hisagi's perfectly shaped torso. He accessorized his outfit with few straps around his neck and plain leather bracelets on the wrists.

"I think I fell in love!" Kensei started at the sound of Shinji's high pitched voice so close to his ear.

"You fall in love averagely few times a week" he murmured and followed Shinji's look.

He didn't notice her earlier – the only female in the band who chose this very moment to come out from behind the percussion. Usually the dark-skinned blondes looked cheap but it suited her. Her body was slim but well-rounded. She was wearing shorts, bovver boots and skimpy top, barely covering breasts and revealing perfect abs. Probably to most men she was a dream coming true. Most of male public eyed her appreciatively and those who didn't were bawled out by their jealous women. Good thing she was a drummer, because as a vocalist she would've effectively drew attention from music played. Kensei got to know her from practice sessions but clothes she wore then were less provocative.

"Come on," he motioned to Shinji "there are two places at the bar"

"Rrright, old nag like you must take a seat, eh?" said the blonde with fake care in his voice and chuckled. He knew, that the only reason Kensei wanted to seat there was to observe the band as well as the public.

"Well, if that isn't the pot calling a kettle names" said Kensei and snickered at Shinji's face. The blonde hated when someone hinted his horse-like teeth.

"What do you suggest?"

"Absolutely nothing...Hi, Ulquiorra" Kensei said his hellos and sat at the bar "For me the usual, and for him iced coke with lemon"

Shinji welcomed the bartender as well. Ulquiorra, who semeed even more malcontent than usual, put the glass in front of him.

"I'm surprised you agreed to this" addressed him Kensei, before the dark-haired boy managed to leave "I was under the impression you rather enjoyed peace and quiet."

"Hisagi can be very persuasive when he wants to" explained Ulquiorra bored to the bone. It probably wasn't the first time today when he had to answer that question.

Kensei imagined what kind of persuasion Hisagi could use on him and must've admitted there were things he would do even without asking... He closed his eyes and sighed deeply. _Damn you, Mr. Shotgun, get out of my mind already!_ he chided himself. This was getting really infuriating.

The band finished last preparation and played first accords to test the sound. The public answered with a few impatient but also encouraging shouts, the most enthusiastic belonging to Matsumoto and Hinamori.

The band members took their places. Gathered men didn't hide their dissapointment when the blonde dissapeared behind the percussion, but women didn't have the reasons to complain. Kensei had none either – Hisagi placed himself at the mic near the bar.

"Yo, kitties!" hollered the blue-haired guy casually scissoring his wrists on the stand "It's time to tear down the shack, whaddaya say?" he grinned at the enthusiastic answer.

"The shack, at most" commented Shinji, sipping his coke. Unfortunately no one heard him except Kensei.

"This ka-friggin-boom is brought to you by Oblivion! Fire!"

The band started with a bang. Undoubtedly this bar hadn't witnessed this amount of noise since it was "Hipnosis".

Kensei was tapping the rhythm on his thigh. He generally wasn't against heavy beats but for him head banging or wearing t-shirts with his favourite band was the thing of the past. He glanced at Shinji – the blonde focused mainly on the drummer but at least he won't complain he had bad time. Also – Hisagi looked absolutely gorgeous playing guitar, just as Kensei thought he would be. It was obvious he really enjoyed it.

 _It's not like I'm walking alone into the valley of the shadow of death_

 _Stand beside one another, 'cause it ain't over yet_

 _I'd be willing to bet that if we don't back down_

 _You and I will be the ones that are holding the Crown in the end_

The blue-haired guy started to sing and Kensei finally understood why he seemed familiar to him. About two years ago he saw him participating in Muay Thai competition – the boy was really good.

After a while Hisagi joined his fellow vocalist..

 _When it's over, we can say, "Well done"_

 _But not yet, 'cause it's only begun_

 _So, pick up, and follow me, we're the only ones_

It was when Kensei totally lost it. Never mind the boy's voice...Kensei's brain was filled with images of where these lips would fit better than at the microphone. He fidgeted thankful for the fact he never wore jeans – they might be a bit too tight right now. If the kid knew what Kensei was thinking, he would probably smash his head with his guitar.

 _To fight this thing, until we've won_

 _We drive on and don't look back_

Again, there was only the blue-haired who sang. He grabbed at the mic and leant forward. He removed the microphone from the stand, causing it to fall. He started to pace the improvised stage with one hand holding the mic and the other raised and curled in fist.

 _Everybody, with your fists raised high_

 _Let me hear your battle cry tonight_

Few of the braver listeners started head banging. Some random girl was swinging her hair. Kensei felt old.

"I was just wondering" said Shinji "Why women drummers are so rare of a sight? They look awesome, don't they?"

"Yhymm" agreed Kensei sipping his beer. He was obviously focused on someone else.

The band's vocalist was a handsome and damn lively person, you've got to give him that. Although for Kensei he was a bit too lively – the words "stage animal" could be as well tattooed on his face.

More and more people joined the of head bangers group and still new persons arrived at the bar. Ulquiorra won't have time for reading today.

 _Stand beside, or step aside_

 _We're on the frontline_

After the song ended the band didn't make a break – they smoothly moved on to the second track, as energetic as the previous one. The blue-haired vocalist barely had the time to get something to drink but he didn't look as if he was about to complain.

They played seven more songs, all of them in the same speedy tempo. By that time, more than the half of the public were getting down on the dancefloor. The air was filled with the smell of sweat.

After the seventh song came a longer break. The band reshuffled – Hisagi took blue-haired's place, running his hand in sweat-sticky hair and unbuttoning the last of his shirt. Blue-haired sat at the percussion and the girl came to the front with the keybord. Before she got at it she grabbed the water bottle, drank half of it and the other half poured over her sweaty face and hair. Few men whistled appreciatively.

"I already like that song…" murmured Shinji, moving a little, so he could see better.

Kensei only snorted and shook his head.

The girl started to play, but this time the music was a lot slower and softer than before. After a while a percussion joined in.

"A dedication song" said Hisagi before he started to play.

Kensei knew perfectly well who was the dedication for. Kira, Matsumoto and Hinamori stood together. They raised their glasses in answer to their friend's words.

 _You never go_

 _Your always here suffocating me_

 _Under my skin_

 _I cannot run away_

 _Fading slowly_

There was something more in Hisagi's voice than mere effort to sound properly. It was genuine sadness in it. Hypnotizing, in a way. His eyes were closed while he was singing and playing.

 _My best defense, running from you_

 _Cost me everything_

 _I can't resist, take all you want from me_

 _Breaking slowly_

The recipients of the dedication were also lost in thoughts. Hinamori crouched at the wall, hiding her face in her arms. Matsumoto realized there was something wrong, kneeled next to Hinamori and embraced her comfortingly. Kira tossed off more than half of his beer.

 _I'd give it all to you_

 _I offer up my soul_

 _It's already over, already over now_

As the last accords died away and the public started to applaud for the first time since the beginning of the concert, Kensei managed to tear away his eyes from the tattooed boy. He finished his beer and went to the bathroom. As he was closing the door, Hisagi began to sang another slow tune.

Soon Kensei was done and was about to leave he suddenly heard voices at the door.

"How much do you want?" asked the first, husky, one.

"Ten" answered the second, boyish one.

"Fifty".

It was quiet for a while.

"Don't you maybe have a…Dream"? asked the younger voice.

"Oh, no, no" declined the other hastily "I'm not into that shit, but if you really want it…" he lowered his voice and Kensei must've put a lot of effort to hear it. Still he wouldn't be able to make it if it wasn't for the break between the songs. "Check out _Destruction_ ".

"Thanks".

Kensei waited until he was sure they both were gone and only then he left the bathroom.

The band reshuffled to previous arrangement. The blue-haired guy had the microphone back, which seemed to make him extremely happy. Kensei started to suspect he's on dope – it was impossible to be this euphoric all the time.

He sat at his place and asked Ulquiorra for one more beer.

"What are you doing"? he asked Shinji.

"I'm stalking" the blonde answered, eyes focused on his smartphone "I wanted to know what's the name of this lovely drummer"

"Couldn't you wait and ask at the office?"

"Why for?" Shinji seemed surprised "I have Facebook for this kinda stuff".

"Right" murmured Kensei. Somehow he couldn't warm up to these things "And what did you find out?"

"My love's name is Tia Harribel and she's a model" he reported proudly and demonstrated Kensei some photos of blonde drummer "I also found out that the vocalist is called Grimmjow. He worked with Tia for a while and now he's a bartender at some bar. One time he made it big in Muay Thai."

"I knew it even without your Facebook. I was there when he fought."

" Really? Interesting."

"By the way," said Kensei leaning over to Shinji "Do you know a place called _Destruction_? I guess they have a connection for Hongyouku there."

" _Destruction_? Interesting" repeated the blonde „Mr Fairyman works there" he nodded towards Grimmjow who sang in a bit of a husky voice now and danced with random girl.

"Really?"

"Yep."

"Good to know" said Kensei to himself and took another sip of his beer.

 _Oblivion_ played four more songs and one for an encore, while Kensei drank two more beers. For the last two songs Shinji retreated and came back when the band was practically taking off as did a large group of the clients. Hisagi was talking to Kira and Matsumoto, Hinamori whispered something to white-haired bassist who's icy stare followed Shinji to the bar.

"I guess this kid wants something from you" Kensei observed and nodded towards the approaching boy.

"Hmmm?" the blonde turned around, surprised, and there he was met with cold stare of turquoise eyes.

The boy had to seriously look up to be able to eye-to-eye Shinji but he wasn't the least intimidated with it.

"Yeees?" asked Shinji politely.

"My friend" began the boy without needles preambles and pointed towards Hinamori "claims you're stalking her".

Shinji laughed.

"Sorry, I'm not interested in kids. Should someone be afraid of me - it's probably your band colleague".

"I have no reason to doubt her" white-haired interrupted him, as grave as an IRS official "Listen, either you leave her alone or I make sure you'll regret this. Understood?

The threat sounded less than seriously in the lips of a kid. Also, Kensei had known Shinji for a while and he was aware that the blonde's slim apparition was just a decoy.

"Sure, sure" agreed Shinji peaceably, raising his hands in a defensive gesture "I'll remember".

"What's with this kid?" asked Kensei when the boy left and Shinji took his place at the bar.

The blonde waved his hand dismissively.

"It's Hitsugaya Toshiro, Momo's friend" – he explained shortly.

"I've heard the name before"

"I'm not surprised, he's a national champion in fencing"

"Ok...that would explain his self-confidence"

"He's pursuing the PhD at the local polytechnic".

"The PhD?" Kensei almost spat his beer "This kid is 22 at most!"

"He'll be in December" specified Shinji "One day I was bored and took a look at one of his works. He's into ice physics. He claims some metals change their properties after you treat them in the temperature under the absolute zero…

"Sorry, you've lost me at "ice physics" interrupted Kensei "More interesting than that is – how did you let yourself be caught?"

"I was wondering at that as well. It seemed I underestimated that girl"

"You're getting old, dude"

"Hardy har har" grunted the blonde "We're off then?"

Kensei looked around. The bar depopulated slowly, coming back to its' usual sleepy mood. Hisagi and his crew were about to leave as well. The only ones staying were Grimmjow, Tia and Matsumoto.

"Might as well" Kensei agreed.

„Give you a lift?"

„Nah, I walk"

"Whatever you want"

They strolled to the car together – Kensei to retrieve his jacket. Then they said their goodbyes and gray-haired started in the same direction as Hisagi earlier disappeared to. Shinji stayed for just a while, on the phone with someone. Judging by his face, it was his step-sister, Hiyori.

Due to the late hour and shady neighborhood, the streets were almost empty, only single cars appeared from time to time. A group of youngsters, judging from the outfits, _Nihilism_ frequenters were waiting for a night bus.

It was a part of town where old tenement multi-family houses and high grey blocks threw shades on everything including lives of the inhabitants. There was nothing good to say about it, but then again nothing extremely bad could be found here. Someone got a beating from time to time or was robbed, that was all.

Suddenly Kensei heard someone's scream ahead of him and realized it was Hisagi's. He ran like hell and would've missed the dark alley between two buildings where the trash from all the neighborhood was stored, but the sounds of rough-and-tumble coming from it put him back on track.

* * *

 **Songs used in chapter:**

 **Vast - Touched**

 **Pillar - Frontline**

 **RED - Already over**


End file.
